Charles A. Beard and the Court “Historians”
1963; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 25; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/j.1540-6563.1963.tb00227.x
ISSN1540-6563
Autores Tópico(s)American History and Culture
ResumoClick to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes1. Harry Elmer Barnes, a friend of Charles A. Beard. popularized this phrase in his attacks on such non‐revisionist historians as Basil Rauch. William L. Langer, and Herbert Feis. Harry Elmer Barnes, “Revisionism and the Historical Blackout,” in Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: A Critical Examination of the Foreign Policy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Its Aftermath, ed. H. E. Barnes. (Caldwell, Idaho, 1953), 1–78.] Barnes noted in the preface to this work (which was dedicated to Charles A. Beard) that the title of the book came from a remark Beard made to him during their last conversation.2. Charles A. Beard, President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War, 1941: A Study in Appearances and Realities (New Haven, 1948), 296–297. Before presenting the full text of his letter to the Secretary of State, Beard quoted at length from an address made by Mr. Churchill (April 18, 1945) in which he alluded to this correspondence which was initiated when he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty in September 1939. Mr. Churchill also noted that he had received the permission of Prime Minister Chamberlain to do so. [Ibid., 295.]3. Ibid., 297.4. Beard to Fred W. Shipman, September 11, 1946, Administrative Files of Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York.5. Shipman to Beard, September 16, 1946, ibid. Shipman did not indicate why transcripts of President Roosevelt's press conferences could not be made available at that time. In response to an inquiry about this matter the current director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library writes: “At the time of Mr. Beard's request only a very small part of Mr. Roosevelt's White House papers had been received here and of these only a part had been reviewed and made available to scholars. The Press Conference transcripts were in the nature of confidential materials since they contained many off‐the‐record statements of the President. We do not find a record showing just when they were received here. We find they were not opened for use until February 1949.” [Elizabeth B. Drewry to author, May 14, 1963.]6. Beard to Clarence B. Hewes, January 7, 1947, Trumun Papers, Official File 158 Miscellaneous, Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, Missouri. Beard did not identify the source of the press report cited in his letter. A check of the New York Times index for this period revealed no news item about Schlesinger's access to President Roosevelt's files and papers. This is not to deny the existence of the clipping that Beard mentioned, but there seems to he no way to assess the reliability of the report. The former Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Herman Kahn has informed the author that he has never seen this press clipping. He claims, moreover, that the Roosevelt Library did not receive title to most of the President's papers until July 24, 1947, and that Professor Schlesinger did not begin his research at the Roosevelt Library until July 7, 1949, two years later. Kahn further denies that Schlesinger examined any papers that were not available to “all competent scholars.” [Herman Kahn to author, February 8, 1961.]7. Hewes to Harry S. Truman, January 9, 1947, Truman Papers. The White House files now in the custody of the Truman Library do not reveal whether this letter was ever answered by President Truman. [Dr. Philip C. Brooks, Director of Harry S. Truman Library, to author, January 12, 1961.]8. Beard to Dr. Solon J. Buck, January 7. 1947, Administrative Files oE Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.9. Buck to Beard, January 21, 1947, ibid.10. Review of R. G. Collingwood, The Idea of History, by Charles A. Beard, in American Historical Review, LII (July 1947). 707–708.11. Beard, “Who's to Write the History of the War?”Saturday Evening Post, CCXX (October 4, 1947). 172.12. Rockefeller Foundation Annual Report, 1946 (New York, 1946), 188–189.13. Beard, “Who's to Write the History of the War?”14. Beard, “Grounds for a Reconsideration of Historiography,” in Theory and Practice in Historical Study: A Report of the Committee on Historiography, Bulletin 54 of the Social Science Research Council (New York, 1946). 3–4.15. See Louis R. Gottschalk, “Our Vichy Fumble,”Journal of Modern History. XX (March 1948), 47–56.16. Beard, “Who's to Write the History of the War?” Langer also said in his preface: “I cannot emphasize too strongly that this is an altogether independent analysis and that it in no sense reflects or records official opinion or judgment.” He added that no member of the State Department “ever attempted to sway my conclusions, or in any way to influence my work.” [William Langer, Our Vichy Gamble (New York, 1947), ix.]17. Beard, “Who's to Write the History of the War?”18. “Open the Archives,” Washington Post, October 10, 1947, p. 8.19. Langer to author, January 21, 1961, enclosing copies of the original letters to the periodical and the newspaper.20. See Department of State Bulletin, XVI (May 25, 1947), 1048–1049.21. Washington Post, November 9, 1947, p. 4B. The results of this collaborative effort of Langer and Gleason were The Challenge to Isolation, 1937‐1940 (New York, 1952) and The Undeclared War, 1940‐1941 (New York, 1953). This two volume study has been widely praised by most diplomatic historians as a well‐documented, judicious narrative of the international and diplomatic developments leading up to the entrance of the United States into the Second World War.22. Ibid., November 15, 1947, p. 8.23. Harvey Wish, The American Historian: A Social‐Intellectual History of the Writing of the American Part (New York, 1960), 269.24. Beard, “Neglected Aspects of Political Science,”American Political Science Review, XLII (April 1946), 216–219. In the context of his remarks Beard apparently was referring to such officials as Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Sumner Welles, and James F. Byrnes.25. Herbert Feis, an historian who has had considerable access to unpublished materials, has noted recently that Truman retained “records of various sorts” in his own custody about episodes which he apparently thought best not to reveal. Feis also observed that “outsiders” have not been given permission to examine the papers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. [Herbert Feis, “Concerning World War II, Many Facts Are Still Missing in Action,” New York Times Book Review, February 5, 1961, p. 6.]26. Herbert Butterfield, History and Human Relations (New York, 1952). 191.27. Wayne S. Cole, “American Entry into World War II: A Historiographical Appraisal,”Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XLIII (March 1957), 601–602.28. Dr. G. Bernard Noble to author, February 9, 1961.29. Ibid. Tansill in his review of Beard's last book on Roosevelt alluded to the fact that he personally had examined unpublished State Department files and referred to Beard's work as “an extended study in presidential mendacity” which demonstrated that President Roosevelt and Phineas T. Barnum “had much in common.” [Review of Charles A. Beard, President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War, 1941, by Charles C. Tansill, in Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XXXV (December 1948), 552–534.]30. Barnes, Perpetuul War for Perpetual Peace, 80.31. Ibid., 41.32. Howard K. Beale, “The Professional Historian: His Theory and His Practice,”Pacific Historical Review, XXII (August 1953). 239n.33. Beale, ed., Charles A. Beard: An Appraisal (Lexington, Kentucky, 1954). 259–260.Additional informationNotes on contributorsThomas C. KennedyThe author is Assistant Professor of American History at the University of Wyoming. He was granted his Ph.D. (1961) by Stanford University.
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